One major travel perk of some of Chase’s premium travel rewards credit cards is a free membership to Lounge Club. A Lounge Club membership is normally $99, but you can easily get a free membership every year by having a Chase Ink credit card or a co-branded Ritz-Carlton or Fairmont credit card.
You can use your Lounge Club membership to access more than 350 airport lounges in over 200 cities worldwide. Most lounges within the program are found in international airports, however there are 19 airports with lounges in the US that you can access using your Lounge Club card.
Cards That Offer Free Lounge Club Membership
Two Complimentary Lounge Visits. With the Chase Ink Plus ($95 annual fee), Ink Bold ($95 annual fee), and Fairmont Visa ($95 annual fee) you will get a free annual Lounge Club membership plus two complimentary passes to any lounge of your choice. After your first two visits you will have to pay $27 per visit. Normally a pass is required for each person that enters the lounge, so the two free passes are good for you plus a travel companion.
Unlimited Complimentary Lounge Access. Both the J.P. Morgan Ritz-Carlton Visa Signature ($395 annual fee) and J.P. Morgan Palladium ($595 annual fee) offer a free annual membership to Lounge Club plus unlimited lounge access. With the unlimited access you are also allowed to bring in one guest with you on the pass.
Getting Your Lounge Club Membership
Both the Ink Plus and Ink Bold require you to become a member of Lounge Club by registering your card. You can easily register your card here by entering ‘CHASEINK’ for an invitation code. After entering your card number and personal information you will be issued a Lounge Club account and a membership card will be mailed to you within 2-6 weeks.
When you are approved for either the J.P. Morgan Ritz-Carlton Visa Signature, J.P. Morgan Palladium, or Chase Fairmont Visa as well, you will automatically be issued a Lounge Club account and a membership card should be mailed to you within 2-6 weeks.
How Long Does it Take to Receive Your Lounge Club Membership Card?
The terms and conditions and various reps have confirmed that it may take up to 6 weeks to receive the Lounge Club membership card after your account is created. However there are reports of people receiving the card close to a week after registering through their Ink Plus/Bold credit cards.
Since I recently applied for the Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card and have a 3 month trip coming up that I leave for this week, I wanted to make sure I received the Lounge Club membership card before I take off. Lounge Club lounges are operated by various airlines or private companies which means you will need to present your Lounge Club membership to access the lounges and there is no way to look up your account on a central computer system.
Need it Faster?
After receiving the Ritz-Carlton Rewards Credit Card in the mail I decided to call into the J.P. Morgan customer service number on the back of the card. A nice thing about this number is that you immediately get a person on the other end that can answer your questions. In general they seemed very knowledgable and helpful. After requesting to expedite the Lounge Club membership benefit I was told that normally there is no way to do this, but the rep said she would look into it.
After a few short minutes waiting on hold she returned to tell me that she took note of my departure date and sent a message to the department that handles the Lounge Club benefit. The fastest expedited service she could insure would be receiving the card in 3-5 business days, which in my case should be enough.
That said, if you are looking to use the Lounge Club benefit on any of these cards, be sure to apply or register for your Lounge Club membership well in advance to be certain the membership card arrives before an upcoming trip.
Have a Backup Plan
I was told by a rep that it is faster to request an additional Lounge Club membership card than requesting a new one for a new account. So if you already have an existing account you can simply call in and request another card to be sent to you anywhere in the world at no cost.
Even if you are leaving for a trip, you can potentially wait until your account is set up and then call in to have an additional card sent ahead to your destination. You obviously won’t have Lounge Club access on the outbound leg of you trip, but you will be able to use it on your return.
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When do the two lounge passes expire? Calendar year (DEC 31?) or one year from the day you applied (ex: applied on July 1)? Do you get automatically renewed after your first year expires? Do you get the two free lounge passes again in your second year? Thanks!!!
Ang, the membership is valid for one year from the day your Lounge Club account is created and/or you receive the card. When you get the card the expiration is printed on your card as well. Once enrolled you still need to renew each year, however, I’ve heard people automatically receiving a a new card each year near expiration.